Heel and method of its manufacture



June 7, 1932. g g HTo JR HEEL AND METHOD OF ITS MANUFACTURE I Filed Jan. 2, 1931 Grain INVENTOR 76414 TORNEY Patented June 7, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFLCE LEON LEIGEH'L'ON, J 3., OF LEWISTON, MAINE, ASSIGNOR TO LEIGHTON HEEL 60., INC., 01"

LEWISTON, MAINE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE AND, METHOD OF ITS MANUFACTURE Application. filed J'anuaryfl, 1931. Serial No. 506,021.

My invention relates to themanufacture of heels built up of lifts and more particularly to those types and styles of heels that require inside nailing for attachment to shoes although not liini-tedth'ereto. The lifts of my heel: may be of leather, leatherboard, fibre wood and the like, or combinations thereof, but leather ispreferred'by the trade and, for simplicity, they willhereinafter be referred to ,as leather. My method of manufacture is. especially useful in the manufacture of heels for womens shoes.

lvood'heels have been used almost exclusively for-stylish womens shoes because of lightness and the ease of turning a wood heel block to shapes pleasing-to-theeye and adding style qualities to the shoe when attached:

The inability to turn leather heels manufactured under the usual'processes to these stylish shapes has been due largely to checking, i, e. opening of the joints, and poor heel seat cupping which prevents a tightheel seat joint andmakes such heels worthless. Furthermore the adhesive alone isinsufi'cien-t to insure the retention during wear of lifts below the attaching nails nor to prevent u-n nailed lifts from twisting on each other'duringthe turning operation, and when itis attempted to turn a nailed'heel blank the position of the nails prevents shaping to the contours and profiles of many of the more at tractive styles and-also prevents the formation of a small tread face such as is required for Cuban and Louis heels.

The object of my invention is to build a heel .blank of leather lifts, wholly devoid of metal fastenings, in such manner that it may be fashioned in the same manner "as awood block is fashioned to produce a stylish womans heel and have sut'ficient strength to preventthe lifts from checking or. twisting loose or breakingin the heel turner, while yet preservingits entire solidarity and beauty for vrear on the shoe even though in-my process tbecompleted heel is somewhat lighter than anall-leather heel.- Thus I obtain both style and "lightness.'in,1naterials that require no covering and. will give morebeauty and at.- tractiveness to the finished .shoe. Also my heels, after turning, may be completely finoperation. 1

To the accomplishment of'thisobject and such others as may hereinafter appear, as will readily be understood by those skilled in the art, my invention comprises the novel heel blank,.heel and methods of manufacture hereinafter described andthen particularly pointed out in the appended claims;

The nature and scope of my invention will be understood from a descriptionof the characteristic features of my productstand of methods of manufacture which have been found efficient, as illustrate-din the accompanying drawing,'in which: I

Figure 1 is a view, in .verticalsection, of my heel at an early stage, namely, with the lifts cemented andaligned in a pile;

Figs. 2 and3'are views, in perspective, .of examples of the perforatedlifts that may be used in building my heel;

Fig. lis a view' in vertical section, of the heel pile shown in Fig. 1 having acompound non-metallic dowel as initially inserted in the aperture formed by the liftperforations Fig. 5 is a View, in perspective, of a form of wedge which'may'be used as one ofthe two sections of a compound dowel for use in a heel aperture of rectangular section;

Fig. 6 is a view, in perspective, of a block of non-metallic material 'whichmay be sev-' ered on the plane indicated loythedottedv lines toform the two sections of a compound dowel for use in a heel aperture of triangular section; r

Fig. 7 is a View, in vertical section, of the heel shown in Fig. lafter pressure has been applied to reduce it tofinal height;

Fig. 8 is a View, in perspective, of a womans Cuban heel that has been fashioned from a heel blank as shown in Fig. 7

Fig. 9 is a view, in vertical section, of a slightly modified heel blank more suitable for the manufacture of womens Louis heels as indicated by the dotted line profile;

Fig. 10 is a view, in perspective, of a womans Louis heel fashioned from'a heel blank as shown in Fig. 9; and

Fig. 11 is a longitudinal sectional View of the base lift which I prefer to use in the manufacture of my heel.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated by the drawing it will be observed that the perforated lifts or 12 are prepared by die cutting or by any other practicable manner as a preliminary operation, that is, perforated lifts to the usual number comprising the required sizes and flat or wedge forms, are placed on the heel building table instead of unperforated lifts. In the simplest method of building my heels a sufficient number of lifts 10 or 12 are cemented singlyand assembled in a heel pile (Fig. 1) the lifts being aligned or the heel-pile formed-up by the usual forming jaws adapted for this purpose. Each lift of the Fig. 1 heel pile is perforated at the same distance from the breast, thus the aligned perforations of the lifts form a vertical aperture 16 extending from base lift to tread end of the heel pile.

Figs. 2 and 3 show the perforations 11 and 13 in the lifts 10 and 12, respectively, each to be angular in shape and in the heel pile they form an aperture 16 that is of polygonal cross-section that can be filled only by a binding dowel of like cross-section or by a compound dowel, the sections or parts of which together form the required cross-section.

If perforated lifts 10 are used, I form my binding dowel of two wedges of any suitable non-metallic material, preferably of a hard but light wood, one of which is shown in Fig. 5. This wedge 18 is not longer than the height of the heel blank just prior to fashioning into a heel. For convenience I will term such a blank the compressed heel blank although heel blanks ready for outside attaching or for fashioning and inside attaching may be made by my method without using a heel compresser. The square butt 20 of the wedge is of a slightly greater crossseotional area than that of the lift perforations 11 and the wedge is formed by an inclined front face 22. The wedged or sharp end 24 maybe slightly tapered to facilitate centralizing in the aperture 16 at the time of insertion. These wedges 18 may be formed in quantity by severing a square dowel cliagonally.

If perforated lifts 12 are used a compound dowel for the aperture 16 may be made by severing a triangular dowel 26 (Fig. 6) diagonally on the planeindicated by the dotted lines. This will produce two wedges 28 and 30 each having a triangular butt .32 but one having a point and the other having a knife edge at the opposite end. lWhen together, as in Fig. 6, these two wedges form a compound dowel of slightly greater cross-section than that of the aperture 16.

In practice the wedges, designated by W and X as inclusive of either illustrated or any equivalent form, will be graded in length to sixteenths of an inch and will be selectively used to meet the specifications of the final heel height to be attained by compression or otherwise.

In simple hand building, wedges W and X are entered in the heel pile from opposite ends of the aperture 16 and driven in until their butts are at the heel surface but being shorter than the height of the uncompressed heel pile their position within the aperture will be substantially as shown in Fig. 4. Before driving them in the two wedges are dipped in an adhesive the nature of which will presently be referred to.

The heel pile 15 may be transformed into a heel blank of final height by jackpressing and then heel-compressing or the jack-pressing may be conducted under such conditions and pressures that heel compressing may be omitted. In the first case the height of the pile is reduced about the thickness or weight of one lift. In the second case it may be possible to save one lift according to. the degree of pressure employed. Much depends on. the adhesive qualities of the cement used on the lifts and I prefer a latex cement or one having a pyroXylin base. The doweled blanks remain in the jack press until the cement has set and the pressure may be sufficient substantially to fully seat the wedges so that they to all intents and purposes form an integral part of the heel body. If the ack-pressed blank is to be brought to final height in a heel compresser then I may dip the. Wedges in a cement that does not set so quickly as the cement between the lifts.

Thus the final shifting and seating of the wedges with their beveled faces in full engagement, as shown in the compressed heel blank 35 (Fig. 7), may take place on green cement which will, however, become set before the blank is fashioned into a heel.

I have thus produced a nailless heel blank having its lifts securely bound not only by cement but also by the compound dowel formed by the non-metallic wedges W and X 2.-

which, because of their oversize with relation to the aperture 16, act to compress the edge material of the lifts forming the walls of the aperture as the wedges are forced home. This firm bond created by the wedges cemented to each other and'to the heel stock extends from heel seat to tread end of the blank. The dowel serves as the nail or nails ordinarily employed to hold the lifts together while building and shaping and during wear.

This heel blank 35 is ready for fashioning, that is, breast grooving, heel turning and seat cupping or concaving operations which, when the heel is to be attached by inside nailing, may be performed on my heel blank by the ordinary and usual machines found in a wood heel factory. In Fig. 8 I have illustrated a womans Cuban heel 36 fashioned from my heel blank. In Fig. 10 I have illustrated a womans Louis heel 38. The absence a the completed heel.

lift in the manufacture of my heels for I use heavy", selected inside attachment. stock prepared similar to the manner in which top liftstock is prepared. In dinking I use a beveled die and cut through the stock from the fiesh side to the grain side which forms a beveled edge 42 (Fig. '11). My base lift is impregnated with a hardening filler and then condensed resulting in a very hard edge especially at the grain side. This treatment is of especial advantage if the base lift is formed of leatherboard. Thebase lift 40, when of grain leather, is assembled grain side up. whereas the other leather lifts are assembled grain side down, and its weight is such that when the heel seat is concaved the entire depth of the cup willbe in the stock of the base lift thus avoiding a rand effect on In some heels I may use a wood base lift appropriately shaped.

Because I preserve a flat heel seat throughout, my process until the final step of concaving it is necessary to modify the heel compresser slightly. I therefore. replace the usual convex follower or heel seat die designed to mold a cup on the heel blank, as will be understood by reference to United States patent to Tripp No. 776,87 5, Decemher 6, 1904, with a flat follower that has no molding effect on the heel seat surface. The importance of the fiat, specially processed base lift'will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The hardened and perfectly shaped by turning) edge 44: (Fig. 8') of the base lift 40 serves as an accurate guide in the concaving operation. When a cup is molded in the heel blank as for outside nailing its periphery cannot be relied uponias a guide for the turning or later operations. The edge 44 may, if desired, be dipped in sizing after concaving further to stiffen it. Thus the true contour is preserved which is essential for obtaining a tight heel seat when the heel is attached. There is no covering on my heel and the joint is so close as to compare favorably with the sole joint obtained by Compo processes.

In Fig. 9 I have illustrated a modified heel blank 46 for the fashioning of Louis heels. I have indicated the'profile of a Louis heel by dotted lines on the heel blanket; and it will be observed that .the binding dowel, which may be formed by the same wedge sections W and X, stands at an inclination. instead of parallel, to the breast, following the pitch of the fashioned heel. This is made possible by perforating the lifts progressively from tread end to base lift at increasing distances from the breast edge.

The practice of my process gives the following advantages. I

Strengzfih.The compound binding dowel is cemented to the lifts, strengthening the heel blank both laterally and longitudinally, thus 7 preventing any twisting or breaking while to a shoe.

Lightness.The compound binding dowel is of non-metallic material, lighter than the leather which it replaces, but selected to permitcutting when required.

StyZe.The contour and profile that can be obtained by turning is impossible in a shaving operation, which has been common practice in the leather heel artin the past; Turning permits a varying profile from'sid-e to back. Turned heels can be attached from the inside permitting the heel blank to be turned to a very small tread end, much smaller than could be used in the heel were it to be nailed from the outside.

Fate 0 f attaehz'ng.-The absence of any metal, concealed OI'BXPOSGCl, makes it possible and practical to attach this leather heel from the inside.

Lessenerl possibilities of ehecking.l3ecause there are no stresses or strains exerted internally or externally on the heel blank after the adhesive has set, possibilities of checking are substantially eliminated.

Perfect heeZ'seat.-By the special process described I obtain an edge, or heel seat, that is very firm. The absence ofa heel cover permits the heel to be attached close to the counter giving a much tighter heel seat than ispossible in leather heel attaching as commonly practiced in the past, and tighter than any wood heel that is covered with leather, because the heel seat cup is formed on the heel after rather than before it has been turned, thus obtaining a true heel seat contour. A true contour is impossible in any process where the cup is formed by pressure before the heel blank is turned.

Better attaching.Because there is no possibility of splitting the heel, a longer, heavier attaching nail can be used, thus insuring stronger and better attaching than'is possible with wood heels or heels attached from the outside where only the clinch of the nail being fashioned or after: the heel is attached I through the innersole is relied upon.

My heels may be finished either off or on the shoe as may be the dcs'ire'of the manufacturer, using the usual machmes and nfethods for scouring, filling. staining and waxing theparticular material from which the heel lifts have been formed. Also my heel blanks, when so dimensioned, may be attached before final shaping. in which case it is necessary to form the heel seat cup by compression as is customary in the manufacture of nailed heels. The nailless mode of construction and strength of my heel is such that it can be attached ny of the approved Wood heel attaching methods, andv especially by the wood heel screw attachingmachine disclosed in the United States patent to Bertrand No. 1,664,657, April 3, 1928.

Attention is called particularly to the use of a non-metallic dowel so constructed as to replace the lift stock previously removed by dinking and to ensure a lasting bond by cement and pressure between it and surrounding heel stock. Cemented heel blanks cannot be drilled, bored or otherwise cut internally for a later doweling operation without weakening the heel structure and destroying its necessary solidarity.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that in its broader aspects an essential feature of my invention resides in preforming an aperture in a heel blank comprising a plurality of superposed lifts, in combination with a non-metallic binding dowel so designed as to fill or more than fill said aperture regardless of its dimensions. The specific form or construction of such a binding dowel is not of the essence of my invention except that the dowel should not have a round or other section that will not prevent twisting and checking of the lifts under the strains of fashioning and later wear. I believe I am the first to produce a non-metallic heel blank or heel characterized by the features hereinbefore defined.

In this specification my object has been to disclose the essential features of my invention and for simplicity I have described only one of the heel building methods that may be used. I recognize that hand methods may be improved by the use of machines and that the sequence of some of the hand'building steps described may be varied Without departing from my method. Accordingly my method has purposely been defined in the following claims in away to include within their scope such variations of the simple hand building methods described as do not alter the underlying principles of my invention, and to set forth my method in its broader aspects instead of making it dependent upon any special sequence of the heel building steps.

\Vhile the features of my invention have been shown and described in their preferred commercial embodiments, modifications and changes in detail will readily occur to those skilled in the art without departing from its spirit "and scope, but having thus described my novel heel and the underlying principles of its method of manufacture, what I claim as new, is

1. The method of making heels which includes preparing a plurality of perforated heel lifts sufficient in number and of such kinds as required for the heel to be built, said perforations being so located in the lifts that when said lifts are assembled in a pile the perforations form an aperture from top to bottom thereof, cementing and assembling said lifts in a pile, partially seating a cemented two-section wedging dowel in said aperture the length of said dowel when both sections are fully seated being substantially the height of the completed heel blank, and applying pressure to the heel pile to reduce it to final height and simultaneously completely'seating the dowel in said aperture.

2. The method of making heels according to claim 1 in which the cross-sectional area of the compound dowel is greater than the original area of said aperture whereby the wedging of the two sections compresses the surrounding heel stock.

3. The method of making heels according to claim 1 in which said perforations are all polygonal in cross-section and the two-section wedging dowel, after the complete seating thereof, presents the same shape as the aperture into which it is forced but is of slightly greater cross-sectional area on any transverse plane than the original area of said aperture.

4. The method of making heels which includes assembling in a pile a plurality of cemented lifts each of which is pre-formed with a polygonal hole located at a predeter mined distance from the breast edge, said holes together forming an aperture through the pile from top to bottom, and filling said aperture with a cemented non-metallic binding dowel conforming to" the shape of but slightly larger in bulk than the volume of the aperture.

5. The method of making heels according to claim 4 in which the lift holes are formed in thelifts at varying distances from the breast edge, the distance increasing progressively from the tread end to the heel seat of said assembly.

6. The method of making heels which comprises superposing a plurality of cemented lifts each of which has a polygonal hole, said holes forming together a single aperture through allthe lifts, and filling said aperture with a cemented non-metallic dowel that is shorter than the length of said aperture, thereafter compressing the superposed lifts to a height not greater than the length of said dowel, and then fashioning the heel blank to a desired shape.

7. The method of making fashioned leather heels off the shoe which comprises assembling a plurality of perforated, cemented, leather lifts said perforations together forming an aperture from top to bottom of the assembly, inserting two complementally formed, cemented non-metallic Wedging sections in said aperture, neither section being as long as the length of said aperture, reducing the assembly to a height at said aperature substantially equal to'the length of a wedge section, while retaining a fiat heel seat, and then fashioning the heel blank to predetermined dimensions by grooving, turning and concaving.

8. The method of making fashioned leather heels OK the shoe which comprises preparing a plurality of leather lifts each perforated at a predetermined distance from its breast, assembling said lifts in sequence to form an aperture extending from top to bottom including a specially hardened similarly perforated base lift, filling said aperture with a non-metallic dowel and reducing said assembly by pressure to a predetermined height, grooving and turning said heel blank, and concaving a heel seat cup to the turned heel seat edge as a guide.

9. The method of making fashioned leather heels off the shoe according to claim 8 in which the base lift is cut from heavy stock and the concaving operation is confined to the material of said base lift.

10. The method of making fashioned leather heels ofi the shoe according to claim 8 in which the base lift is of grain leather and is applied to the heel pile grain side out.

11. A leather heel comprising a plurality of cemented lifts superposed on each other grain side down and a base lift grain side up, all of said lifts being bound together by a cemented non-metallic dowel, and said base lift being cupped to form a heel seat the edge of said cup being substantially harder than the heel surface below it, and a top-lift covering the lower end of said dowel.

12. A leather heel comprising a top lift and a plurality of cemented lifts superposed on each other and having an internal Wooden dowel composed of two cemented complementally formed wedging sections having their outer ends flush, respectively, with the heel seat face and with the face of the lift just above the top lift, and having their opposed faces in contact.

13. A heel blank comprisingsuperposed lifts each having a hole of polygonal shape cut therein at a predetermined distance from its breast edge, with the aperture formed by said holes filled with a pair of non-metallic Wedging sections, the lifts being face cemented together and the Wedging sections being cemented to each other and to the surrounding edges of the lifts.

14. A heel blank according to claim 13 in which the heel stock surrounding the wedging sections is compressed laterally thereby.

15. A heel blank according to claim 13 in which the axis of the aperture formed by said lift'holes is substantially parallel to the plane of the breast.

16. A heel blank according to claim 13 in which the axis of the aperature formed by said lift holes is inclined, relative to the breast, in a direction which follows the pitch of the finished heel.

'17. A compressed heel blank composed of superposed cemented lifts, said blank having a flat base lift and all the lifts being further secured by a longitudinally uncompressed non-metallic dowel intimately bonded therein by cement and lateral pressure.

18. A compressed heel blank according to claim 17 in which the peripheral edge of said base lift is materially harder than the edges of the other lifts of the blank.

19. A leather heel blank having an aperture through all the lifts from top to bottom, said aperture having a two part expanded wooden dowel seated therein each part being co-extensive With the height of the heel blank, and said lifts being bonded by cement to each other and to said dowel.

Intestimony whereof I affix my signature.

LEON LEIGHTON, UK. 

